Apple rejected Google Voice for the iPhone (or did they). What really is going on here?

Google Voice is a telecommunication application/service provided by Google that grew out of the acquisition of the VoIP company GrandCentral. Launched in March of 2009 Google Voice provides a free way to use a single number provided by Google for all the user’s phone numbers. In addition Google Voice provides several other features with this service such as, among others, low cost international calling, call forwarding, the ability to read transcribed voice mails online, and conference calling.

While the Google Voice application has been made available to Blackberry users and users of Google’s own Android Smartphones in July of 2009 Apple appeared to reject the Google Voice application for their iPhone. Apple clarified the situation by explaining that the application had not been rejected but had been delayed for further review. The official reasoning for doing this is that Apple had concerns over Google Voice’s ability to alter or replace the iPhones functions and interface. While this may be part of the reason for the delay I think a bigger part of this is the partnership between Apple and service provider AT&T. AT&T is the sole provider for the iPhone and has an interest in keeping Google Voice off of the iPhone.

Even though Apple has assured AT&T had not given it’s opinion either way I find that hard to believe. AT&T has much to lose by allowing Google to provide this application. Mainly, they don’t want competition with the services they already provide to a superior Google product and they certainly don’t want to provide the bandwidth for Google to accomplish this (a complaint they share with other apps like Pandora and Slingbox).

Apple is under no obligation to allow Google to boost their popularity by using Apple and AT&T’s technology but what this shows is a failure on AT&T’s part to provide a competing service that is desired by their customers. Time will tell if it was a good move to keep Google Voice from iPhone users in its current form. If a similar app can eventually be developed to compete with Google Voice it could turn out to be a good move. If they can’t develop a similar app or of they force Google to trim down what they have developed before they allow it on the iPhone they may find a portion of their customers moving on to different devices that offer the applications that they desire.